Amazon gets 238 proposals for its second headquarters

Amazon-level growth could lead to increased traffic and other strains on infrastructure.
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SAN FRANCISCO — For the 238 cities and regions that bid to land Amazon's second headquarters, FedEx was far too impersonal. Many of them were hand-delivered to Amazon's Day One headquarters building in Seattle and the vast majority arrived on Thursday — the last one late in the evening.

The deadline for proposals for the new headquarters, expected to bring as many 50,000 jobs and more than $5 billion in investments, came Thursday night. Amazon released a map of North America Monday showing that there were only a few areas not interested in hosting the project.

The sheer number of the applications didn’t surprise New York City.

“With 50,000 jobs on the line, it’s difficult to not attempt to win them,” said Anthony Hogrebe, with the New York Economic Development Corporation. “Throwing your hat in the ring seemed to make sense whatever you think your chances are.”

Though he, of course, thought New York’s chances were very good.

For nearby New Rochelle, NY, making a bid was also a chance to get some added publicity for a big new project, a downtown development initiative, said mayor Noam Bramson.

“An exercise that enables us to present our assets and quality in a clear and convincing light is useful, and something we can replicate,” he said.

Among those not participating: Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming, and, famously, Arkansas, which placed a full-page ad last week in The Washington Post saying, "our lack of traffic and ease of getting around would be totally wrecked, and we can’t sacrifice that for you."

Some requirements for Amazon's HQ2: a metropolitan area with more than one million people, a "stable and business-friendly environment," and "urban or suburban locations with the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent.

Several interesting proposals got attention in the days since Amazon announced the HQ2 hunt including the city of Stonecrest, Ga., offering to set aside land and give it the city name of "Amazon."